Modular connectors and receptacles find widespread use in applications including telephone connections, general communications systems connections, as well as computer network connections.
FIG. 1 depicts a common network RJ-45 type modular connector or plug 10 that can detachably mate with a receptacle 20. Although receptacle 20 is depicted as being wall-mounted, it is understood that the receptacle may instead be mounted at the end of a mating length of cable, to form a cable-to-cable interconnection.
Connector 10 is typically fabricated from plastic with a forward portion 30 whose front lower surface presents a number of wire connections 40 to mating connections 50 found within receptacle 20. A cable 60, containing a number of wire conductors 65 is physically connected to at least the rear portion 80 of connector 10. Electrical contact between at least some of the wire conductors 65 and the connections 40 is usually made by crimping the end of cable 60 into the rear portion 80 of connector 10.
Connector 10 normally includes a somewhat resilient connector tail 90 that projects rearward from the front portion of the connector. The shape of the opening 100 in the mating receptacle includes a small rectangular opening 110. Opening 110 is sized to receive and retain a thickened portion 95 of the connector tail is retained, upon connector-receptacle mating. This retention is necessary to maintain mechanical and thus electrical connection between connector 10 and receptacle 20.
Connector-receptacle connection is made by inserting the connector into the receptacle fully, and relying upon retention of tail portion 95 by the wall of region 110 in the receptacle. But for this retention, the integrity of the connector-receptacle contacts is not ensured. To release the connector from the receptacle, one merely urges connector tail 90 downward toward cable 60 (e.g., away from rectangular opening 110) until the thickened tail portion 95 can escape the narrower opening 110 in the receptacle. The ability of the distal tail portion (e.g., the exposed portion of the tail) to move up and down to facilitate engagement and disengagement from a receptacle is shown in FIG. 1 by the double-arrowed curve adjacent tail 90.
A somewhat flexible sleeve 120 may be provided to protect connector 10, including protection against inadvertent disconnection from receptacle 20. In use, cable 60 is passed through a cable-sized opening 70 in the rear portion of the sleeve. The sleeve is then slid forward over the connector. Once in place, the sleeve provides some protection to tail 90 in that the sleeve can prevent substantial upward movement of the distal tail portion. Unfortunately the sleeve does little or nothing to prevent accidental downward movement of tail 90, which movement can result in inadvertent disconnection between connector and receptacle.
An intermittent contact between connector and receptacle connections in a telephone installation may only result in a noisy conversation. How ever in a computer network or telephone modem environment such intermittency can result in serious corruption or loss of data.
What is needed is a preferably simple mechanism to maintain and protect the connection integrity between a modular-type connector and its mating receptacle. The present invention provides such a mechanism.